NIGG SAFARI - Private Guided Safari Botswana February 2009. The beginning was marked with build up of dark clouds in Maun leading to rain at sunset at Island Safari Lodge. This was at clear reminder of the typical summer time weather pattern, clear, overcast thunderstorm then crisp clear skies. I love it!!! The next morning we took off on an early morning charter to the Little Kwara area settling in and going out on an afternoon nature drive to Tsam Tsam where lions and cheetah had been seen that morning. From the distance that we travelled to Tsam Tsam we thought we would end up in the Central Kalahari. Elephants, zebra, giraffe, tsessebe, guinea fowl and crowned cranes were amongst the list of our sighting on the drive. At Tsam Tsam we were welcomed by the chirping of a cheetah (a sound which is not very common) along the fringe of the Mopane Forest. The light was pretty low at this stage but hearing the cheetah alone was an experience. Since we had driven such a long way to this area we figured it was inevitable that should we wish to spend the night in the camp, we had to drive back and luckily serval and jackal entered our spotlight on the way back. Time 05:30. Knock- knock, ...nothing..., Hello!!!, nothing. This is your wake-up call!!! Still nothing? Errrr... morning. Thank yooou, hrrrrrrrr. Such is life in the bush, long days and late nights thanks to no other than Mr Pinotage himself. Quick coffee and a fresh muffin and we were out again in the direction of Tsam Tsam. This time we were welcomed not by the 2 or 3 cheetah brothers we were looking for but by male lions. Not 1 male, not 2 males, not 3 but 7 males in the company of one female in heat. We spent the morning with them and witnessed a couple of mating sessions. It was not until midday, the time that all other vehicles had gone back to the camps that we noticed unique behaviour. The lioness took interest in another male and was keen to move on. This was noticed by the new male who tried to walk away from the situation knowing exactly what it entailed but he was closely followed by the flirtatious female. We watched this interesting behaviour for a few hours and just past midday the midmorning tea wore off and hunger set in. We were not about to leave this exciting situation.... A tractor that was going on a firewood run was loaded with lunch to us. The rest of the team took a little siesta under a tree and i caught up with the journal. From where I write I can see 4 male lions sleeping, another 2 males in confusion and on the other side my guests, co. guide and tracker out for the count. Finally, it arrived. A lunch served by the tractor drive! You have to be on safari in Africa to understand how the whole puzzle works, but hey, it works. After our picnic lunch we went cheetah hunting, going around into Mopane forest and savannah grassland. We were about to give up and en-route to the lions when we saw them, two beautiful cats lying under a bush. We watched their every move and every few minutes they would get up and look around. It was when the light got better and temperatures dropped that they got up and we managed to get some very good photographs of them next to a termite mound. Beautiful!! In that light we went back to the lions and the lioness was with the new male. She had managed to swop partners. Seeing this pride in an open plain in fantastic light was a real bonus. On the way back we saw impala and zebra in awesome light and spent the evening with guests that I had been with on my previous safari. We had spent 1 week together in Hwange and they carried on to Botswana. We knew they would be coming to the Kwara area but seeing them on the drive and being in the same camp for another night was unexpected and special. It was hard to imagine that our time was up at Little Kwara. With all the exciting, high adrenalin moments we had experienced we decided to finish it off with an early morning mokoro ride. It was a beautiful morning and the experience was calm and serene. A boat ride through the channels of the Delta had us at Xakanaxa, (pronounced txa – ka –na –txa in the bushman dialects) the X word. An afternoon boat ride followed by sunset with the egrets, darters and cormorants at the heronry. Early morning start with a light breakfast and a nature drive. Our first buffalo sighting was followed by a lion sighting only 400metres away. It was a herd of about 300 buffalo and the cats tucked away under a blue bush showed no intention of going to join the buffalo. We followed the buffalo and we had a moment when our patience was put to the test. Beautiful backlight was shining through the reeds and grass and all we needed was a buffalo to complete that scene for a photograph. 20 minutes gave us enough time to elect a photographer and in a democratic process with no delay in results Hans was chosen. He converted the opportunity with a 40D and the 100-400mm to what was the best photograph of the trip thus far. A dark old buffalo bull in the backlit grass! As the buffalo were disappearing off back into the forest the radio crackled with a message that there had been a murder in the area (5 minutes Schumacher time) from where the buffalo were. The culprit was a big male leopard and the victim a young wildebeest. The kill had just happened and the panting leopard dragged the wildebeest under a bush, away from the vulture’s sight and it climbed up a nearby Ebony tree. Being witnesses, we took photographs of this scene and realising that the leopard was there to stay we went back to camp for lunch. Our afternoon plan was to spend time with the leopard and we set out early but we were held up along the way by the sighting of a 2 metre plus black mamba fighting for survival against marauding babblers and starlings. The squirrels voiced their opinion too and we carried on with the drive only to be held up again. This time was by a cow herd of elephants. The feeling of being comfortably surrounded by a large breeding herd of elephants in mutual comfort is one that I had not felt for a long time. Sylvia did exceptionally well considering her “respect” for long nosed giants and maintained her calm through this experience with matriarch 3 metres away from the vehicle on the left, 2 other adults 4 metres away from behind, the rest of the herd scattered not too far off and all with the intention of happily walking right next to our vehicle. The 18mm F2.8 lens came into good use as the cow was keen to take up every pixel in the frame. The herd walked past us slowly rumbling as they do and after this magical experience we carried on to the leopard who was feeding under the bush. This carcass was a little larger than his usual prey and he would have to feed on it quite a bit before he considered hoisting it up into the fork of a tree. He came out a few times and seemed to be investigating the trees around. One thing was certain, did he fail to lift this carcass the safety of a tree, it would not make it through the night. The hyenas and lions would inherit his hard earned meal. The lions had moved into the Mopane forest. The lionesses were fast asleep and the cubs were watching a herd of elephants moving past them in what seemed to be a study and judgement of opportunity for future referral. A beautiful sunset with hippos, lechwe, impala and a variety of waterfowl rounded up our day. Beautiful sunset at a pool with hippo, lechwe, impala and a variety of waterfowl rounded p our day’s safari. Exit Xakanaxa, welcome Lagoon. A 30 minute hop in an Airvan 7 seat aircraft had us in the surrounds of the Kwando Lagoon. The daily newspaper (tracks on the ground) had it that there was a pack of wild dog in the area and this was definitely something to look forward to. Our first drive at Kwando lagoon was rather “quiet”. Me again, after being spoilt by a few days of exceptional wildlife sightings in the Okavango Delta I refer to a big herd of elephants, side striped jackal, impala and kudu in orange sunlight, hyena, leopard tortoise, wild dog tracks and birds galore as being “quiet”. We decided we would carry on with our search for the dogs the next day. Record time departure after breakfast in search of the endangered canids. We had not gone far when one of them crossed the road in front of us. The rest of the pack was on the airstrip and as we got to them they took off at the fastest speed that I have ever seen a wild dog run. Pat did very well to drive the Uri in an effort to keep up with them and before we knew it, there they were; the first dogs had killed a young impala. The frenzy that followed was rather controversial, seemingly savage but completely natural. They fed on the impala and in between 9 and 12 minutes only the head that was being carefully cleaned by the Alpha female was left. The way events unfolded created those experiences that one knows they will only experience once in their lifetime. We then decided to take a walk focusing o the smaller intricacies of nature and looking those finer details that are often overlooked from a vehicle. Highlights on the walk include a dragon fly that was seemingly enjoying a close encounter with the 17mm lens, the toothbrush tree that fascinated Sylvia, climbing a 6 metre high termite mound and discovering some ant-bear diggings. On the drive back to camp e startled a 7 foot black mamba. Difficult to describe in words but the situation went something like this; 1. Mamba was crossing the right track of the road. 2. Pat sees mamba and slams on brakes 3. Mamba rears up into defensive posture at the same time trying to avoid the front of the vehicle. 4. Hans is first in line and held onto the bar tightly 5. Mamba is now side onto the vehicle towards the back seats where Humphrey...... pause ...because I look up from where I write my journal and I see a 3-4 foot snake coming into the main area. Most bizarre situation, I am writing about a black mamba and a cobra comes into sight. As I get up to try and find a snake catcher it starts to move away and by the time I return with snake catcher in hand, the serpent is nowhere to be seen. Back to the mamba 6. Humphrey ejects out of his seat (snake side) to the opposite end of the vehicle in a remarkably swift motion accompanied by an interesting sound of surprise (he still insists to this day this was not a scream). As Lebo (the camp hostess walks into the main area she encounters the Cobra who then flees for dear life into the Kwando River, eishh!!The afternoon was planned for the dogs. We had hardly seen all of them when they started moving and playing in the mud. They started moving through the tall grass where evidently a warthog soar and piglet had been resting. The grass rustled and the next sound was that of a squealing piglet. The feeding frenzy on the dying piglet was scene not for the faint hearted. One hour later, hunger still on board the dogs moved again this time in a typical hunting fashion. A little ceremony followed by a slow run with ears on alert. We followed them until sunset and sooner than later we were only able to keep up with the 6 nine month old pups from the 2008 litter. Slowly the hunting party returned and judging from the results of the pups begging being fruitless, the dogs had not caught again. They then carried on and we parted ways. Lagoon, place of the Wild Dog,...2 kills in one day. Early start from camp, again in search of the wild dogs and any other exciting sight that Africa had in store for us. . We heard the dogs calling, tried to locate them unsuccessfully and in the process bumped into the 3 cheetah brothers who had not been seen for a while. The 3 partners in crime were sitting on a termite mound, apparently planning a poaching trip as they looked around them continuously. They moved, we followed and this was one of those situations, had we been there 5 minutes later, we would have missed these good looking cats. The last time they had been seen apart and the pair killed and ostrich. (I must say the thought of a high speed chase; Cheetah vs. Ostrich is one that I have tried to imagine for years and would have loved to witness). They walked onto a small herd of impala but because of the tall grass they did not see this potential prey. The impala bolted and the cheetah could only but give a small fruitless chase. The hunt continued until they got to a big termite mound with overlooking a waterhole. Sitting in wait excitement was brought to them as the same herd of impala came to the waterhole for a drink. They got into position and our hearts sank as one of the ewes was chased by a ram in the direction of the cheetah. The odds of survival were not on her side but Mother Nature was. A bit more waiting and as the cheetah realised the impala were not falling into the trap they decided to try. The chase did not last as the adrenalin pumped impala evaded their predators. This gave the sweat that had built on our shutter fingers time to dry. This was when we realised we had to head back to camp for onward arrangements to the Central Kalahari. During the flight the difference in greenery was evident between the lush vegetation of the river systems and the scrub vegetation in the harsh climate of the dry Kalahari. Lion and leopard tracks were order of the day, the elusive gemsbok, steenbok, kudu and various desert adapted mammals and birds were characteristic sightings during our stay in the Central Kalahari. The highlight came though when we went on a walk with Tsota and Xekame descendant s of the San bush men that lived in the area now known as Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Learning how these people had survived the dry climate and the wildlife in those days we all felt as if we were taking up too much space on the planet. Different plants, insects and animals were all part of the story which was told in the Naru language and then translated to us by Douw our resident guide who himself understood the clicks. We ended up at a typical bush men shelter, our minds enriched with this knowledge of a bygone era. On the last day we transferred by light charter as on a very high note our safari came to an end at Maun airport. Our guests thoroughly enjoyed their time in Botswana.                                     humphreygumpo.com - 2008